"In A Perfect World I Could Spend My Entire Career In Portland" - Damian Lillard Needs To Accept The Fact That He Demanded A Trade And Is Now Running From The Grind

Kevork Djansezian. Getty Images.

Jesus Christ, we're still doing this with Dame? We're still doing the whole "in an ideal world I would never run from the grind and I would stay in Portland forever" thing while Dame is currently doing everything he possibly can to actively run from the grind and no longer play for the Blazers?

All the loyalty talk and all the "I could play in POR forever" nonsense that we heard for years died the second Dame officially demanded a trade. You don't get to play both sides if that happens. That's how trade demands work, so just own it! I think that's the most bizarre thing about this whole scenario with Dame. Just own it man! You want to play for the Heat despite the fact that you just made the decision to sign your max extension to stay in Portland. The cat is out of the bag, the damage is done, just lean into it already!

I mean the question could not have been more clear, and his response could not have been more telling. You know what the answer to 

"This upcoming season, do you want to stay in Portland?"

is if someone wants to stay in Portland this upcoming season?

"Yes"

Is that what Dame did? Of course not. You see by saying "in a perfect" world he would stay it allows Dame to then say "well, we don't live in a perfect world so I'm out!". 

Enough with trying to play both sides! I also don't really understand what could be so different now compared to previous years before the trade demand. It's not like Dame didn't know the Blazers situation. It's not like they could magically form a superteam by forcing other teams to give them their best players. It's not as if the Blazers or any NBA team just has endless amounts of money so they could buy whatever free agents they wanted. So what exactly is that perfect world? 

Maybe he's simply trying to tell us the truth in a way that won't get him fined, which I can understand on some level. Adam Silver is watching Dame and his camp like a hawk after all the shit that side has leaked since the initial trade demand. But trying to make it seem like his hands are tied and he has no other choice is essentially the exact opposite of the actual situation. This is all going down because of Dame's choices! He chose to sign the extension. He chose to demand the trade. 

At the end of the day, we all know how this ends. Dame is going to South Beach at some point over the next few weeks. That's why you saw that IG story post with "future Heat legend soon" and now you have him talking like this publicly on podcasts. The only time we used to get that was when he would tell Chris Haynes he was staying in POR forever and was going to be loyal until he retired. To me, this is just his own way of letting the world know that the Shams/Woj bomb is about to drop any minute.

Honestly, I think we're all ready for it at this point. This whole thing has been so exhausting to follow over the past few months so just rip the bandaid off, make the trade, and let's get ready for the season. We all know it's coming.